Source: The vase I will discuss was recently purchased by my husband at a garage sale across from our house. He actually bought two vases: one vase is factory made with delicate white geese that remind me of my mother and the second was thrown in for free. Although I do not know the maker of this piece, it does have a mark (see above).
Looking inside and at the symmetry of the vase it appears to be wheel-thrown rather than made using hand-building. There are decorative grooves on the outside that seem to have been made while on the wheel (likely by fingers).
What is striking about the vase is not its form but rather the application of the smoky-blue glaze. There are no brush strokes so I would venture that it was dipped; however, the glaze is not evenly dispersed. The glaze may have actually been dripped onto the piece. The glaze is also very thick and appears to have ran off the piece at the bottom creating a puddle that was fired separate from the clay. Was this intentional? I could see that maybe the artist was experimenting with glazes/glaze mixtures and maybe it was a mistake but the drippings at the base were fired, which indicates to me that the glaze application style was purposeful.
Whether purposeful or not, the vase is visually interesting even from a distance because of this glaze application; if it had been smoothly glazed it would be more conventional and therefore would probably not have captured my interest for this critique as it has.
It's hard to tell from the picture but it looks as if the piece might be ash glazed. The running off of the glaze wasn't intentional but happens when glaze is applied too thick. I think you are right that the piece was wheel thrown.
ReplyDeleteNice write up!